


I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home

by doctornineandthreequarters



Series: 9-1-1 Prompts and Drabbles [13]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Evan "Buck" Buckley Has Bad Parents, First Kiss, Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Insecure Evan "Buck" Buckley, Love Confessions, M/M, Protective Maddie Buckley, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctornineandthreequarters/pseuds/doctornineandthreequarters
Summary: Eddie was always aware that each member of the 118 had family issues, particularly something to do with their parents. It seemed to go unspoken that each member of the team had some sort of issue with their parents. But he had heard something about everyone’s parents.Except Buck.---Or, unexpected visitors at the station bring some important information to light and help Eddie realize something very important.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Evan "Buck" Buckley's Parents, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Firehouse 118 Crew, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: 9-1-1 Prompts and Drabbles [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878523
Comments: 19
Kudos: 527





	I'm Gonna Make This Place Your Home

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: It's a regular day at the firehouse when this couple show up looking for Buck. It's his parents. Instead of Buck's parents being these cruel and cold monsters, they are sad and yearning for their son. Buck is wilted and so sad himself as he greets his parents. They once had a loving relationship but something happened that drove Buck away from them. When the firefam find out what it was, their own hearts bleed for Buck, Eddie insisting Buck come home to him and Chris.

Eddie was always aware that each member of the 118 had family issues, particularly something to do with their parents. It seemed to go unspoken that each member of the team had some sort of issue with their parents. But he had heard something about everyone’s parents. 

Except Buck.

Buck avoided the talk of family, unless it was about Maddie. Eddie assumed that Buck’s parents lived somewhere in Pennsylvania, since that was where Buck and Maddie were from. But their names, what they did, why Buck never brought them up, Eddie didn’t know. And he was smart enough to not ask Buck about it. But, he was certainly curious. 

He just didn’t know that he’d have those curiosities answered. 

They were all at the station. Bobby had cooked a big meal, since both Athena and Maddie were coming by for dinner. A big station dinner (well, bigger than normal since every meal was kind of a feast with how Bobby cooked) was common, every week or so, depending on schedules. It was nice, just getting to sit down, as a group, and catch up over dinner. 

Everything had seemed fine. Buck was laughing at something Chimney said, which of course had Eddie smiling. He’d probably never admit it to anyone else, but Buck’s laugh was his second favorite sound in the world (since Christopher’s laugh was obviously his favorite). Bobby and Athena were both amused at Buck’s entertainment, carrying on the conversation they were having. Maddie was watching her brother, a smile on her face. Eddie could feel Hen’s eyes on him as he watched Buck, knowing his face probably betrayed his feelings.

He knew his feelings towards Buck were far from platonic. But sometimes it was just easier to not acknowledge them. Sometimes, it was easier for things to stay the same.

“Excuse me?” Before Eddie even turned around, he could see a concerned look on Maddie’s face. And as he turned around, he started to see why. 

“Can we help you?” Bobby asked, standing up. Before they could answer, Maddie stood. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” Eddie glanced over at Maddie, but couldn’t help but notice how Buck had shrunk down in his seat. “You need to leave.”

“Maddie,” Chimney said, looking up at his girlfriend. “What’s going on?” Eddie watched as Maddie glanced at Buck, who was staring at his food, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. 

“We just want to talk to both of you. Especially Evan.” Realization crossed everyone’s faces. Eddie realized he should have seen it right away; so much about this couple resembled features on both Maddie and Buck.

These were Maddie and Buck’s parents.

“No,” Maddie said, crossing towards them. “After everything...no!”

“Maddie.” Buck finally spoke up, standing as he did. Eddie wasn’t sure what he expected on Buck’s face; annoyance, anger, apathy. 

Instead, Eddie, along with everyone else, was shocked to see a saddened expression on Buck’s face. One that matched his parents. 

“Evan, sweetie.” Buck stepped backwards when his mother tried to step forward to hug him. “Evan, please. We just want to talk.”

“You’re about six years too late for that.”

“Evan.”

“No!” Everyone was a little startled at Buck raising his voice. “You kicked me out!”

“We were trying to motivate you,” Mr. Buckley said. “You were lost after college, you didn’t have a path. We were just trying to push you in the right direction.” Eddie frowned as he watched Buck. He could see the pain radiating through Buck. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be kicked out. For everything wrong his parents had ever done and every terrible way they had made him feel, they had never done that. 

“How does kicking me out motivate me?” Buck shot back. “How does telling me that I can’t live under your roof help me? You kicked me out! You were supposed to support me and love me and you couldn’t even do that!”

“Evan, of course we love you,” Mrs. Buckley said. “And we’ve been trying to prove that to you for years.”

“The only person in that house who loved me was Maddie.” His parents tried to reach for him, but Buck quickly moved past them, shaking his head. He was down the stairs before anyone could say anything. 

“I told you not to do this,” Maddie said, glaring at her parents. 

“We’re just trying to make it up to him, to both of you.”

“By showing up here?” Maddie asked. “By ambushing him at work? That doesn’t fix anything. That makes things worse.”

“Maddie, please.”

“I think it would be best if you both left,” Bobby said. “As the captain of this station, I cannot have my firefighters distracted by anything.”

“We have a right to talk to our son.”

“My husband asked you to leave,” Athena said. “Now, you can do that of your own accord or I can call a squad car down here to do it for you.” Eddie just watched Buck’s parents, which felt wrong to say. These people weren’t parents. They didn’t care about Buck, not in the way that Buck deserved. And that hurt something deep down in Eddie that he didn’t know how to describe. 

With only the disdainful looks from the 118, Buck and Maddie’s parents finally left, leaving only silence in their wake. 

“That poor boy.” Athena was the first to break the silence as Chimney got up and walked over to Maddie. 

“It makes sense,” Hen said, as everyone glanced over at her. “Why he fought so hard to come back. Why meeting Red hit him so hard.”

“We’re his family,” Bobby said, earning a sniff from Maddie, who Chimney hugged tightly, and a nod from everyone else. “And he needs to know that.”

As soon as those words were out of Bobby’s mouth, Eddie was getting up. No one stopped him. It was almost as if they knew the only person who could get Buck to understand that was Eddie. But then, maybe they understood Eddie’s feelings better than he did. 

After heading down the stairs, he quickly headed towards the locker room. When he found Buck, he was sitting on the ground, head in his hands trying to keep it together. And all Eddie could do was sit down next to him and pull him into a hug. 

“I’m right here,” Eddie whispered as Buck crowded his face into the crook of Eddie’s neck. “I’ve got you.” That seemed to break whatever resistance Buck had left, the first sob bubbling out of his throat. Eddie just held on tighter, trying his best to comfort Buck, all the while hating seeing Buck in so much pain. 

“I must look so unprofessional right now,” Buck said, when he finally pulled away. “Crying at work.” He pulled himself off the floor, Eddie following suit.

“Buck, your parents ambushed you at work.” Buck’s lips quivered and Eddie let his hand rest on Buck’s shoulder, trying to be a comforting presence.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do after college,” Buck said, sniffing a little. “Hell, I didn’t even want to go to college. But that was what my parents expected. You go to college, you get a good job. They used to always say ‘your sister went to college and now she’s a successful nurse. You can do the same thing, Evan’. So I went and took whatever classes seemed the most interesting. I graduated with a degree in history.”

“Explains all the random facts.” That earned a small smile from Buck, settling some relief in Eddie’s heart.

“But the degree wasn’t enough,” Buck said, continuing on. “Going to college wasn’t enough. They wanted me to get a job right away. And after a month, a month Eddie, of being at home, they gave me an ultimatum. They said get a job or get out. So, I left.”

“Buck, I’m so sorry,” Eddie said. “Your parents...they never should have treated you like that.”

“I just wanted a family,” Buck said, the tears starting again. “I just wanted them to believe in me and love me. Why is that so hard? Is it me?”

“No,” Eddie said firmly. His hand moved from Buck’s shoulder to cup the nape of his neck. “Buck you are wonderful and kind and the best damn person I know. You deserve all the love in the world and you have it. From your sister, from the 118, from Bobby, Athena, Hen, Chimney. But especially…” Buck looked up at him, his perfect blue eyes rimmed with tears. “Especially Christopher and I. You’re a part of our family. We love you so much, Buck.”

“You love me?” His voice was small and unsure. And all Eddie could do was close the distance between them, pressing a tender kiss to Buck’s lips. It was meant to be short and sweet, Eddie had so much more he wanted to say. But Buck tugged him closer, not breaking the kiss and now that Eddie was kissing Buck, he never wanted to stop.

“I love you too,” Buck said when they finally pulled away. “I never thought…”

“I wish I had said something sooner,” Eddie said, smiling gently at Buck. “You deserve to know how loved you are.” Buck sniffed and nodded. Eddie dragged his thumb across Buck’s cheek, swiping a tear away. “I know we still have a few hours left in the shift, but after everything that happened, I don’t think Bobby would fight me if I said I was taking you home.”

“Home?” Buck asked, a slight sadness to his voice. 

“If you think by home I mean your apartment, you're wrong,” Eddie said, tugging Buck closer to him. Buck let his head rest in the crook of Eddie’s neck and Eddie just pressed a kiss to his head. “Your home is with me and Christopher.” Buck looked up at him and Eddie smiled. 

“I like the sound of that,” Buck said, before closing the small distance between the two to kiss Eddie. Eventually, they’d head out. Eventually, they’d go home to the world's greatest eight-year-old, who’s smile would immediately improve Buck’s mood. Eventually, all through of them would curl up on the couch, Buck in the middle to keep reminding him how loved he was. 

But for now, Eddie was content to stay there in this little bubble of love and happiness that they had created.


End file.
